After seeing some stories recently about certain Christian charities trying to evangelize in Indonesia and other tsunami-stricken area (can you imagine how most Americans would feel if a Muslim country offered aid to us in a disaster then started trying to convert people to Islam? Muslims feel the same way) it was good to see this story about the Catholic charity, Caritas, showing genuine respect for the religious beliefs of the Muslim Acehnese:
Friday was the festival of Eid in which Muslims celebrate their faith and remember the story of Ibrahim (Abraham in the Christian tradition) and his son Ishmael. It is a day of family celebration and prayer which the international Catholic charity, Caritas, marked by carrying out a distribution of "religious kits". The kits contain a prayer mat used by Muslims as part of the requirement of Islam to pray five times a day in a clean area free from dust and insects, a sarong which is traditionally worn by men to attend the mosque and a "mukena" or female Moslem outfit that cover their heads and bodies when they pray. The 2500 kits have been distributed in the Meulaboh area of Aceh to people living in camps. The kits arrived in time for people to use their contents for the Eid festival. The Caritas team leader Pat Johns said "We talked to our local staff and the community leaders in the area to ask them what they needed. Many people in Meulaboh and the surrounding area lost everything and the loss of items that are important for their Muslim faith was particularly distressing. "As a faith based organisation, we recognise the importance of faith to many people, so as a mark of respect for the festival of Eid, Caritas decided to distribute what we are calling 'religious kits'."